The Tycoon's Resistant Lover (7 page)

Damn the man! How could he read her mind so easily? She’d been trying to decide which one on her staff would be able to help him tomorrow. She’d already discarded the two female salespeople. Not because they weren’t capable women, but only because Julianna didn’t want her lovely and charming saleswomen to be near James. She had hired them for their ability to charm the customers but that didn’t mean she wanted them to work their wiles on James. The thought inadvertently popped into her mind that, if anyone was going to work their wiles on him it would be her.

She jerked her head to the side to get her hair off of her face, then looked up at him with a deep breath. “No, I’d be happy to show you some pieces.” That was brave, she thought silently. Either of the men on the schedule to work tomorrow could easily help James. She could even draw them pictures of James’ house and explain why she’d selected each of the pieces and describe the rooms in which they might be placed. So why had she just volunteered to see James yet again? Even after her whole lecture to herself on why James was not the man for her?

He grinned, knowing he had her exactly where he wanted her. “Good. It’s a date, then.”

Julianna’s eyes snapped back up to his. “A date?” she asked nervously.

“Exactly,” he replied. “I’ll take you out for dinner afterwards and we’ll make an evening of it.”

She was already shaking her head. “No. I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she countered, unable to look him in the eye.  What had she been doing? She’d spent the evening with James tonight and look where it had ended. Edward would be furious with her! She’d cheated on him and he had every right to feel betrayed. If the roles were reversed, she would….no, she actually wouldn’t feel the same way. The lovely and vivacious Jessica Mallory came to mind as well as the way Edward had been looking at her during the dinner party before James had arrived.

That wasn’t a valid excuse, she told herself firmly. Edward hadn’t gone and made out with Jessica, he’d only been looking at her with interest. And that interest was only because Edward was trying to help the woman out of a bad situation due to a ridiculous legal document. Goodness, she couldn’t believe what a hussy she was. “No, I’ll have one of my assistants show you the pieces and that way you won’t have to tie up your whole evening.”

James took the blanket from her and shook his head. “No. You’ll show me the pieces. If you don’t want to go out to dinner afterwards, that’s fine. But you’ve seen my house and only you know what would work and why.”

Unfortunately, he had a point, damn the man. “Fine. We close tomorrow at six o’clock,” she said with frustration and humiliation in her voice.

James drove her home that night and started to get out of the car to walk her to her door. But she jumped out of the car quickly, bending down before closing the door. “Thank you for a lovely evening. Your house is beautiful and I’ll have things ready for you tomorrow.” She didn’t give him a chance to respond before she flew up the stairs to her home, opened the door and slammed it closed behind her.

James watched with both amusement and frustration. He thought he’d made progress with her tonight but obviously he needed to be a bit more straightforward. He wondered if she’d started thinking about Edward and fury surged through him. He’d be damned if he’d allow her to think of another man when he was with her. He pulled out of her driveway and drove home, working on his strategy for the following night.

Chapter 4

Julianna walked to the back of her gallery, impatient with both herself and James. She’d told him very specifically that she closed down the store at six o’clock and here it was, fifteen minutes until six o’clock and the irritating man still hadn’t shown up. She’d promised to show him the items, but if he wasn’t here in time, she wasn’t going to wait for him! He could just come by during normal hours.

Throughout the day, she’d actually burned up a lot of anger at the man. She was even wearing underwear just because she didn’t want him to show up and think that her lack of those garments were an invitation for him. Which meant she’d been uncomfortable all day long, wishing she could just get his visit over with so she could call Edward and find out if he might be available for dinner tonight. They usually met once or twice during the week for a meal and then again on the weekends for whatever function was happening that he chose to attend. She’d rather not attend any of them, preferring to stay home with a good book or to watch a movie by herself. She hated those ridiculous social engagements but knew that they were important to Edward’s business.

She wondered what it would be like to attend functions like that with James. She suspected that it would probably be a lot more fun. Edward tended to talk business with lots of numbers sprinkled into the conversation. These were things she understood in the abstract, but in reality and the details, she had zero interest in deciphering. And his numbers were so complicated he was completely out of her league.

She’d only been to one function while on James’ arm but that night had been…okay, she couldn’t help admitting that it had been fun. Even arguing with the obnoxious man had been stimulating. Any time he’d spoken to a friend or colleague, the conversation had been more jovial, not a single number brought up but lots of teasing and joking. Even she had to admit that James could work a crowd well.

She shook her head and looked around, realized that she was just standing in the middle of her gallery with a silly grin on her face. She wiped the grin off and took a deep breath. She had paperwork to finish, a report of upcoming auctions to review and travel arrangements to schedule. She didn’t have time to moon over a guy.

She glanced down at her watch and was just about to pick up her cell phone and call James, ready to give him a piece of her mind when the bells over the door jingled. With a shiver of excitement, she knew deep down that it was James entering her gallery.

She walked out of her office and caught Lisa putting her purse down, knowing that the other woman was about to approach James to see if he needed any assistance. “Go ahead and head home Lisa. I’ll take care of this customer,” she said, staring at him as she walked down the stairs from her office to the main floor.

Lisa smiled up at the man and stepped out of the store. “Are you sure? I’d be more than happy to stay and help that hunk. He’s a gem!” She even took a deep breath and let it out slowly, as if James were some sort of movie star.

Julianna had to laugh at Lisa’s reaction. “I’m very sure. But thank you for the offer of help. James Cavanaugh is a personal friend.”

Lisa laughed. “Lucky woman! I’d love to have friends who looked like that!” She took one more look at James, then spun around and headed out of the gallery through the employee’s entrance at the back where their cars were parked.

Julianna’s amusement vanished when she turned back to James. He certainly was a hunk, she had to admit. His mere presence had her heart beating erratically and her knees weren’t as strong as they were moments ago. Would he always have this kind of an impact on her? Would there ever be a time when she could see him and not feel all giddy and school-girlish about his broad shoulders and narrow hips? More importantly, would there ever come a point when she could look at the man and not imagine what he looked like naked?

James leaned against the door, watching as Julianna walked towards him. She looked incredibly beautiful in a caramel colored sweater and matching wool slacks. The color made her skin look warmer and caught several of the highlights in her blond tresses. And she looked delicious. It was also the first time he’d seen her in slacks and he wondered if that was a message for him to back off. Unfortunately for her, he wasn’t in a very receptive mood today.

“You’re very late,” she said tartly and glanced down at her watch. “We’re actually closed. I should make you come back tomorrow, which is what I do with my other clients.”

He smiled slightly, already noting the excitement in her eyes. “But you’re not going to do that, are you?”

She bit her lower lip and looked up at him now that she was standing right in front of him. “I suppose I could make an exception. Just this once.”

James’ smile grew wider. “I appreciate the courtesy,” he replied with equal formality.

Julianna was just about to smile back at him when she pulled herself back from the brink. This was no time to repeat the previous evening. She’d given herself a stern lecture the previous night and knew that James was dangerous territory. Edward was closer to her personality and she should just remember Edward whenever James was around. James was trouble. Edward was a good, solid future.

“This way,” she said and spun around on her heel and walked to the back of her gallery. There was a warehouse area where she kept unique items for special customers. It’s where she’d pulled several of the items she thought might look good in James’ house so that no one else would see them today. They’d had several customers including several online sales and she didn’t want these pieces to be accidentally bought up by anyone before he had a chance to either accept or reject them.

“Here they are,” she said as she pushed the heavy warehouse door open for him.

James took hold of the door and walked in after her. Looking around, he was impressed by her inventory. She had some beautiful pieces and he could even see several work areas where it appeared some restoration was taking place.

For some reason, he’d pictured her gallery as a small antique shop where he might find a few big pieces but mostly smaller items like trinkets and lamps or silver cutlery from old castles and such. This was a large store, probably five times the size of what he was expecting. Her gallery was filled with large antique pieces as well as artfully arranged smaller items and curios. All of the pieces were immaculately restored and preserved with creative displays that made her whole place feel much more upscale and refined than his expectations.

It just proved to him once again that he shouldn’t underestimate this lady. She had it all, he thought; looks, beauty, creativity and the kind of smile that punched him in the gut whenever she used it on him. He was putty in her hands when she smiled and he wished she’d do that more often when he was around.

She waved her arms wide as she showed him several room mockup s filled with incredible antiques. “Here are the items I thought would suit both you and your new home,” she said, gesturing to the furniture she’d selected for him. One of the pieces, a huge, gorgeous king sized bed with an ornate headboard, fit for a king in her mind, had just come in the previous week. It hadn’t even made it onto her showroom because her restoration staff had been cleaning it up. It had been in a dusty basement of an old Irish castle that had been scheduled to be torn down due to the dangerous weathering it had taken over the past few centuries. No one had been able to gather enough funds to save the building so it had been set to be demolished. But several pieces had been discovered in the basement and she’d been there to purchase them off of the auction block. She’d seen this bed and thought it was magnificent. She’d almost kept it for herself, but knew that it would suit James much better.

As she looked at the piece, her hand lovingly smoothed along the glossy finish, her fingers gently touching the intricate, wood scrollwork. James could tell that she really loved this one piece in particular but he had to keep his mind off of the bed. Julianna, with her long, tapered fingers and perfectly manicured, pink tipped nails, standing next to a bed, and doing to the bed what he wanted her to do to him, was a bad image for his concentration.

James looked over the other pieces carefully, listening as she described the amazing history she’d discovered of each one and where she thought it should go in his house. She even had the ‘why’ all figured out as well as possible color choices. Her descriptions helped him picture each piece in his house, an extremely good selling tactic he had to admit.

When she was finished, he had to laugh softly at her thoroughness. “When you decide to sell something, you don’t do it in half measures, do you?” he asked softly, completely impressed with her skills and knowledge.

“Thank you,” she replied softly, flattered by his praise as she looked down at the floor. Compliments from James meant too much to her. Her stomach fluttered excitedly and she was inordinately happy that he liked her selection as well as her explanations.

“I’ll take all of the pieces,” he said firmly. “Send the invoice to my office and I’ll arrange for them to be stored until the final restoration is completed on the house, just so they don’t get damaged accidentally.”

Julianna was already shaking her head even before he finished. “I didn’t mean for you to take all of the pieces. Don’t you want to just select the ones that you like?” The pieces were outrageously expensive. Most people just selected one or two pieces and built their rooms around those with less expensive furniture.

He shook his head. “I want all of it,” he countered. “I’m working hard to restore the house to its original style using as many recovered hardware pieces I can find. So why not fill the house with furniture that suits the period as well?” He handed her a card with his office’s address on it. “Can you hold them here for a day or two until my assistant can arrange a storage unit for them?”

She took the card automatically, her mind numb with the amount she’d priced these pieces at. “James, you can’t just buy up all of this stuff.” She was already cutting her prices in half for him, trying to calculate in her mind the restoration costs and the delivery fees so she could eliminate her profit on the items.

“Why not?” He looked down at her with an amused expression, eager to get the business out of the way so he could kiss her pink lips, to feel her soft body once again against his own. He liked the furniture, therefore, deal was done. They could now move on to the point in the evening where he took her into his arms and kissed her until she wasn’t able to think any longer.

“Because they cost too much money!” she replied, exasperated by his obtuseness.

He laughed and pulled her closer. “Did you make the bed with that mattress and comforter just for me?” he asked, changing the subject.

Julianna looked behind her and shook her head. “I didn’t do that. It’s the standard procedure to dress the pieces whenever a client is coming by to view them.”

He smiled down at her. “Ah, but the soft, full comforter gives me several ideas.”

It took her a moment to understand what he was thinking of and as soon as it hit her, she pushed against his chest, not really sure how she happened to be standing in his arms, his strong hands firmly holding her waist and sliding against the wool of her slacks. “Just get those ideas out of your head, James. We’re not doing that again tonight.”

He laughed and bent low to kiss her neck, nuzzling the soft skin and pushing her hair out of the way. He enjoyed the way her hair felt against his cheek and wished she would wear her hair down more often. “Why would we avoid such a perfect opportunity?”

She gasped when his hand slid up her back then around to the front, his large hand cupping her breast. She reached up to stop his hand’s momentum and pull it away, but his mouth captured hers and she lost track of her goal. Or possibly, a new goal occurred to her.

“James…” she said, intending to tell him to stop, but the words simply wouldn’t come out.

“Yes?” he asked and moved his mouth up to her ear lobe.

“We can’t do this,” she replied, but tilted her head so that he had better access.

“We seem to be doing it quite well already.”

She was just about to pull herself together when she felt his hand on her breast once again. Hadn’t she grabbed his hand and pulled it away? Obviously not, she thought as she arched into his palm.

James thought she was perfect. He loved the way she cried out after his thumb rubbed her hardened nipple through the soft fabric of her cashmere sweater. She took a deep breath, but it was unsteady and ragged. “James,” she started to say, but then his other hand slipped up and cupped her breast. Whatever she’d been about to say was lost as her body shuddered in reaction. Her hands moved from his wrists, sliding over the sports coat he was wearing to his shoulders, hanging on desperately while he nuzzled her neck, her collar bone, then back up to her ear.

“James…” she started to say again, not sure if it was going to be a protest but she couldn’t get the words out. Her hands needed….desperately needed to touch him. Her fingers moved higher, feeling the skin on his neck, moving lower along the open collar of his tailored shirt underneath the sports coat. “Too much,” she finally said.

James thought she was telling him that she was feeling too much and started to back off, but then her fingers moved out from his shirt and pushed his sports coat off his shoulders. She wasn’t telling him too much because of what he was doing. She was telling him that he was wearing too many clothes, too much material.

He groaned with both relief and an instantaneous surge of desire as he lifted her up into his arms and placed her on the solid mahogany dresser behind her. His hands moved down her body, all the way down so that his hands were right behind her knees. With a swift move, he simultaneously pulled her legs apart and slid her cute bottom to the edge of the dresser so that she was pressed against him. Her gasp and the widening of her eyes, before they slowly closed once again, her mouth falling open as the heat spread through her, told him that she was finally just as involved as he was. There was no turning back this time. His little ice princess was melting and he was more than happy to apply the heat.